JP2009503465A - Sensor device, washing machine and position detection direction - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient sensor.
A three-axis linear position sensor device includes a reference element configured as an element that generates a magnetic field, a reception pad configured to measure a magnetic field generated by the reference element, and a measurement performed using the reception pad. Signal conditioning and signal processing electronics configured to measure a three-axis linear position of the reference element based on the magnetic field being applied.
[Selection] Figure 2

Description

  This application claims the benefit of the filing date of the United States. This application refers to US Provisional Patent Application No. 60 / 702,870 filed on July 27, 2005.

  The present invention relates to a sensor device, a washing machine, and a position detection method.

Magnetic transducer technology looks for applications with torque and position measurements. It was developed for non-contact measurement of the torque, especially on shafts or any other part that undergoes torque or linear motion. A rotating or reciprocating element may be provided when the magnetized region, ie the magnetically encoded region, and the axis rotate or reciprocate.
This type of magnetically encoded region generates a characteristic frequency in a magnetic field detector (similar to a magnetic coil) that allows the torque or position of the shaft to be measured.
This type of sensor is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

Patent Document 2 discloses another torque sensor based on the magnetic sensor principle, which applies a current pulse (the presence of a pulse defined by a sharp rising edge and a slow falling edge) directly to the shaft. Is based on that.
International Publication Number 02/063262 International Publication Number 05/064301

  An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient sensor.

  To achieve the above object, a position sensor device (for volumetric example or triaxial alignment), a washing machine, a method for detecting position (for volumetric example or triaxial alignment) according to the independent claims above are provided. To do.

  According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a (eg triaxial linear) position sensor device is configured to measure a reference element configured as an element for generating a magnetic field and a magnetic field generated by the reference element. And a (mixed) signal conditioning and signal processing electronics configured to measure the (volumetric example or triaxial linear) position of the reference element based on the magnetic field measured at the receiving pad. To provide.

  According to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is a washing machine provided with a position sensor device (volumetric example or triaxial linear) having the mechanism described above.

  According to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, a method for detecting the position of a reference element (for volumetric example or triaxial alignment) is generated by the step of generating a magnetic field by the reference element and by the reference element. Measuring a magnetic field with a receiving pad; and measuring the position of the reference element based on the magnetic field measured at the receiving pad (for volumetric example or triaxial alignment) with signal conditioning and signal processing electronics; A method comprising:

  In other words, the sensor according to the exemplary embodiment is a one-dimensional position measurement (eg, a single axis sensor), a two-dimensional position measurement (eg, a two-axis sensor), or a three-dimensional position measurement (eg, a three-axis position measurement). Or volumetric sensors).

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a volumetric position detector may be provided, a reference element may be considered as a target, its position may be detected or connected to an object, It may be determined like the position.
The reference element may generate a permanent or fluctuating magnetic field that can be detected by a receiving pad comprising a substrate (PCB, like a printed circuit board) in which a plurality of magnetic sensing coils are integrated.
By providing multiple (eg symmetrically arranged) coils of the receiving pad, multiple sensor signals may be detected and numerical values may be determined simultaneously, providing detailed information on the correlation between individual signals. May be provided.

For example, a triangulation method or the like may be applied to measure the position distance between the reference element in the coil of the receiving pad and individual reference elements.
The processing circuit shows (mixed) signal conditioning and signal processing electronics, and may determine or analyze the numerical value of the detection signal introduced by the coil of the receiving pad, and the total 3 of the Cartesian coordinate system. The position of the reference element is deduced along two spatial directions X, Y and Z.

  In order to measure the n = 3 coordinate of the reference element, it may be possible to improve accuracy by providing an m> n detector coil of the receiving pad (eg, m = 4).

  Therefore, even under severe conditions, such as in the presence of oil or water, the position of the (movable) reference element can be measured quickly, safely and accurately and is very accurate for deducing the three-dimensional position. A remotely operable position sensor element is provided.

  Next, the sensor device according to a further exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. These embodiments also apply to washing machines and washing methods.

The sensor device may comprise a user input / output interface configured to adapt to a user to operate the sensor device.
This type of user input / output interface may comprise a plurality of interfaces for connecting various devices, such as a computer.
The user input / output interface may provide an output device (ie, LCD, TFT or plasma display device, some display).
Still further, the input device may be provided as a joystick, keypad, one or more buttons, or a microphone of a speech recognition system.

The sensor device may be configured for industrial products or automotive application devices.
For example, the sensor device may be configured to be implemented in a washing machine to measure the position of a drum that is rotatably mounted in the washing machine (eg, representing the weight load of the garment being placed).
It is also possible to measure the three-dimensional position of the shaft in an engine, a reciprocating rod or the like.

The reference element may include a magnetic field generating coil.
In order to generate a specific magnetic field, this type of magnetic field generating coil may be supplied by an exciting electrical signal, a similar current or voltage, AC or DC.
By modifying or adjusting the amplitude and / or frequency in the exciting signal, the time behavior for a more normally generated magnetic field can be adjusted to allow adaptation of the exciting magnetic field to a particular frame situation.

For example, the magnetic field generating coil may be a coil wound around a spherical surface, that is, a coil made of an electrically conductive wire wound mainly in a parallel winding around a spherical body.
Coils wound around this type of sphere are oriented perpendicular to the plane showing the surface of the receiving pad between the coil axis and the vector, and in the event of unwanted tilting, There may be no tendency for failure or error.
Therefore, the calculation of the sensor device may be improved by a coil wound around this kind of spherical surface.

For example, in a rotationally symmetric shape (such as a spherical permanent magnetic element), the reference element may consist of a permanent magnetic region.
The term “permanent magnetic substance” refers to a magnetized material having a remanent magnetization even without an external magnetic field.
Thus, the “permanent magnetic substance” includes a ferromagnetic substance, a ferrimagnetic substance, and the like.
The material of this magnetic region may be a 3d-ferromagnetic material such as iron, nickel or cobalt, or may be a rare earth material (4f-magnetism).

The reference element may comprise a magnetizable region that is magnetized in the longitudinal direction of interest.
Thus, the magnetization direction of the magnetically encoded region or magnetic field source can be oriented along the direction of motion of the movable object.
A method for producing a magnetized region along the longitudinal direction on a magnetizable material from which a movable object is to be produced according to the described embodiment is disclosed in different relations in WO 2002/063262. .

Alternatively, the reference element may be composed of a magnetizable region that is magnetized in a target circumferential direction.
Such a circumferentially magnetized region can in particular constitute a magnetic field source (which can also be meant as a magnetically encoded region) in a first direction oriented in a first direction. Formed by a region of magnetic flow and a region of second magnetic flow oriented in a second direction, the first direction is the opposite of the second direction.

There may be a first circular magnetic flow having a first direction and a first radius and a second circular magnetic flow having a second direction and a second radius in the cross section of the movable object, the first radius being greater than the second radius. large.
In particular, the magnetic field source is a manufacturing process in which a first current pulse is applied to a magnetizable object, such that there is a first current flow in a first direction along the longitudinal axis of the magnetizable element, It may be manufactured according to a manufacturing process in which a first current pulse is applied and a first current pulse is applied such that a magnetic field is generated in the magnetizable element by application of the current pulse.
Further, the second current pulse may be applied to the magnetizable element, and the second current pulse may be applied such that the second current flow is in a second direction along the longitudinal axis of the magnetizable element. .
The first direction may be antiparallel to the second direction.
In other words, the first direction may be on the opposite side of the second direction.

  Furthermore, the first and second current pulses may have a rising edge and a falling edge, and the rising edge may be steeper than the falling edge (see, for example, FIGS. 28 and 30 of Patent Document 2). Good.

The reception pad may include a plurality of magnetic field detection units.
In particular, the detection unit in a few of these magnetic fields may be a coil, a Hall effect probe, a giant magnetoresistive field sensor or a magnetoresistive field sensor.
However, any magnetic field detector can be used to detect a signal representative of the distance to the transmission reference element.

The receiving pad may include a plurality of tiltable coils (ie, coils tiltable with respect to a flat surface in the receiving pad).
The tilt in one or more coils of the receiver pad is this type of event, which may significantly reduce the accuracy when an unwanted tilt occurs between the receiver pad and the reference element. You may compensate for the effect.
Accordingly, by predicting the receiving pad having the tiltable coil, the flexibility adjusting mechanism may be provided to suppress the signal deterioration mechanism.

The receiving pad may comprise a plurality of coils having non-concentric windings (ie different windings wound around different centers).
For example, different turns in the coil may have a center that is positioned along a line (linear or curved).
Any other asymmetry can also be selectively introduced in the coil winding scheme, like a winding spiral, or in two eccentric composite winding sections each having a concentric winding, Except having a different center, one such part may be positioned in another one of such parts.

The receiving pad may comprise four coils with centers arranged at square corners.
This type of configuration may be perfectly symmetric with respect to the center of the corner, and this having both a symmetric shape and four detection signals may be obtained together to measure the three-dimensional position of a highly accurate element. .

The signal conditioning and signal processing electronics may be connected to the receiving pad in a reference element, wireless or wired manner.
Wiring connections (using cables) are a very safe fault-tolerant solution.
On the other hand, wireless solutions (using the transmission of electromagnetic signals, eg in the infrared radiation or RF region above) can increase the flexibility and the wiring connection between sensor devices or different parts for the technical field. Make application devices expandable in environments that are not possible.

The signal conditioning and signal processing electronics may be operable in a first operating mode capable of sensing a first volumetric space having a first value of sensitivity constant, and a second volumetric space having a second value of sensitivity constant. The first volume measurement space is wider than the second volume measurement space, and the first value of the sensitivity constant is smaller than the second value of the sensitivity constant.
The first operation mode has an effect of being able to detect a position within a wide volume, and the time for measuring and obtaining a numerical value is kept very short.
On the other hand, if very high accuracy is required, the volumetric space in the object is reduced and the process simultaneously removes impurities. As a result, the sensitivity constant during the detection increases.
Depending on the above requirements within a particular application device, the two operating mode configurations will be expanded or subdivided into three or more operating mode configurations.

The receiving pad, signal conditioning and signal processing electronics, and user input / output interface are integrated in a common or shared case.
The processing in the sensor device may be simplified because a plurality of parts can be combined into one part.

The receiving pad and the reference element may be arranged in parallel to each other.
By ensuring that the coil axis of the reference element and the axis perpendicular to the surface layer in the receiving pad are parallel to each other, the detection accuracy is reliably increased, so that tilting has an undesirable effect. May have.

The off-range indicator of the sensor device may be configured to indicate the computing state when the reference element is placed outside the predetermined measurement interval.
Therefore, the user actually knows that in a certain calculation state, the sensor device may not be able to accurately measure the three-dimensional position of the reference element after the reference element enters the predetermined measurement range. May be.

  The above defined aspects and further aspects of the invention will be apparent from and will be elucidated with the following embodiment examples.

  Although described in more detail with reference to the following embodiment examples, the present invention is not limited thereto.

  FIGS. 1-16 show a sensor device, its components and figures illustrating the structure and function of the sensor device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The specific examples in the drawings are schematic.
In different drawings, similar or identical elements are provided with the same reference signs.

  Hereinafter, a three-axis linear position sensor device 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The triaxial linear position sensor 100 is configured for consumer devices, industrial devices and automotive application devices.
It provides a perfect sensor system for non-contact measurement of three-axis motion in an environment with high EMI (electromagnetic interference).

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a three-axis position sensor that provides three analog signal outputs.
Non-contact operation is possible.
The measurement range is relatively wide, for example, 64 mm × 64 mm × 64 mm.
The measurement principle may operate in water and oil environments.
The operating temperature range is wide and power consumption is low.

Table 1 provides information regarding technical specifications for the three-axis linear position sensor 100 shown in FIGS.
If the operating temperature is not specified, 25 ° C is reasonable in the written description.

  Hereinafter, the sensor device 100 will be described in more detail.

The sensor system 100 measures and defines the position of the reference element 110 (small electrical coil) within the physical distance range of the three measurement axes X, Y and Z.
The output signals for the three axes are analog voltages.
The reference element 110 may be placed in a harsh environment of water or oil.
The 3D linear position sensor 100 may be used in an environment with relatively high magnetic / electromagnetic interference. Therefore, for example, in laying, when applied to automatic propulsion, it is ideally used when applied to a washing machine.

The sensor device 100 comprises in particular four functional modules (ie reference element 110 (or transmitter)), a receiving pad 120, mixed signal conditioning and signal processing electronics 130 and a user input / output device 140.
The reference element 110 may be permanently fixed (equipped) to an object (such as a rotating drum in a washing machine) that moves a distance within the detection range of the 3D linear position sensor 100.

As long as the reference element 110 is within a certain measuring distance, an object with an attached reference element 110 can move into any of the three measurement axes (X, Y and Z). .
FIG. 1 shows a low signal error measurement distance (L _LSE ) 101, a standard measurement distance (L _S ) 102, a minimum measurement distance (RP _min ) 103, and a maximum measurement distance (RP _max ) 104.

Reference element 110 and receive pad 120 are connected to SCSP electronics 130 (eg, having two wires to connect to reference element 110 and at most eight conductors to connect to receive pad 120). .
However, wireless solutions are possible as well.
In this case, one-way communication or two-way communication between the individual components 110, 120, and 130 is achieved by using an RFID tag such as a wireless transmitter / receiver and a corresponding reader / writer base station. It becomes possible.
In order to use with low signal noise, it is better to keep the wiring relatively short.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the signal supply voltage unit 150 supplies electrical energy to the SCSP electronic circuit 130.
Furthermore, the function indicator 160 (eg, LED) is predicted by the user input / output device 140, and the three analog signal outputs 170 are similarly shown in FIG.

  The three functional modules 120, 130, 140, ie, the receiving pad 120, the SCSP electronic circuit 130 and the user I / O 140 may be integrated in one unit.

In the following, the physical dimensions and measurement ranges are described with reference to Table 2.
Unless otherwise specified, all values shown apply to “typical” in 21 ° C. and room temperature.

One embodiment of the “3-axis linear position sensor” device 100 provides three analog signal outputs (BNC connectors) that are updated 300 times per second (sampling rate 300 / s).
When the reference element 110 is centered in the measurement cube, the output signal is 2.5V for each of the three axes.

The output signal may exhibit “monotonic” performance and may have more advanced safety measures near the center of the specified measurement range.
The region near the “corner” within the specified measurement distance (measurement cube) may have a higher measurement error.

In order to obtain a correct measurement result, the reference element 110 should be in a position parallel to the receiving pad 120, as in the embodiment 300 shown in FIG.
When the reference element 110 is tilted (tilting) in relation to the receiving pad 120 as in the specific example 310 shown in FIG. 3, the output signal shows an incorrect value.
The more the reference element 110 is tilted, the wider the measurement error.

However, the effect described with reference to FIG. 3 may be used to measure the tilting angle of the reference element 110 with respect to the receiving pad 120.
Even if the movement of the reference element 110 associated with the receiving pad 120 is prepared to be stopped in the x and y directions, signal modification in response to tilting the reference element 110 associated with the receiving pad 120 is measured. Well, it may be used to detect this type of tilting qualitatively or quantitatively.

In other words, referring to FIG. 3, tilting is suppressed to measure one-dimensional position, two-dimensional position, and three-dimensional position.
Position movement is suppressed to measure tilting.

When the device 100 is powered on in the power-on sequence of the apparatus 100, the system may enter a calibration mode.
During this sequence, electronic circuit 130 may optimize the filter and signal gain stage.
After completion of the calibration sequence, the system 100 begins with measurements of the X position, the Y position, and the Z position.

Below, the outside of the performance range of an indicator is explained.
When the reference element 110 is placed outside the specified measurement distance, the “red” light source indicator 160 is “on / operating”.
In order to turn off the indicator 160 of the “red” color light source, the reference element 110 needs to move backward from the inside of a specific measurement distance.

According to the power indicator function, when the apparatus 100 is powered on, the “green” color light source indicator 160 is “on / operating”.
When the sensor system 100 is switched off (or the single power supply voltage 150 is turned off), the “green” color light is in the “off” mode.

  In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the invention is described with reference to FIG.

When surrounding the reference element 110 around the receiving pad 120 (see embodiment 400 of FIG. 4), the analog output signals for the X and Y axes show curves similar to sine waves, and X and Y May be 90 degrees out of phase with each other.
This is shown in the example 410 of FIG.
In the specific example 410, the analog output signals in the X, Y, and Z directions are shown.

The above configuration of FIG. 4 is also suitable for measurements that can be remotely controlled under harsh conditions such as dust or oil.
For example, the position of the ball bearing can be measured.

  Since the reference element 110 travels around the receiving pad 120 at a constant distance, the output signal in the Z direction may be a constant voltage.

When the reference element 110 is attached (permanently fixed) to the outer side of the washing machine drum case (not shown), the receiving pad 120 is placed parallel to the reference element 110, resulting in a reference element 110. Becomes the center of the currently specified 3D sensor measurement range, and the 3D linear position sensor 100 tracks any current changes outside the washing machine drum case.
Accurately track drum movement at a sample rate of 300 measurements per second, at most 1800 rpm (rev / min).

The measurement system 100 may be used for laboratory (indoor) use.
The system is configured and verified for use in an important life, that is, an application that supports life.

The system 100 may also be configured for a specific high resolution measurement mode.
Such an embodiment may have three analog signal outputs.
It is also possible to have a serial digital I / O interface (eg RS232c).
This type of device has a standby mode of 300 samples / second and a high resolution measurement mode and may be operated in a two-mode operation.

  Technical specifications for this type of embodiment are shown in Table 3, and unless otherwise specified, the specifications in Table 3 are valid for an operating temperature of 25 ° C.

  If the reference element 110 is placed in a waterproof housing, such an embodiment of the sensor system 100 may be placed in water and oil.

Table 4 can be used for physical dimensions and measurement ranges.
Also, unless otherwise specified, all values shown in the table are representative valid at room temperature of 21 ° C.

The above-described high-resolution embodiment of the sensor device 100 has an analog signal output (BNC connector) that is updated 300 times per second (sampling rate 300 / s), similar to one serial I / O digital interface. You may supply.
When the reference element 110 is centered in the measurement cube, the output signal is 2.5V for each of the three axes.
The embodiment 100 has a measurement protocol that transmits measurement results for each axis (X, Y and Z) through a digital serial RS232c interface.

The output signals in all three measurement axes may function “monotonically” and may have a high guarantee near the center of the specified measurement range.
The axis near the corner of a specific measurement distance (measurement cube) may have a higher measurement error.

  Because of the problems described above with reference to FIG. 3, even when the reference element 110 is tilted with respect to the receiving pad 120, the measurement signal is more monotonic and digitally controlled “attenuation” application (example). : Washing machine)

  The characteristics of the power-on sequence of the embodiment will be described below.

When the sensor device 100 is powered on, the system may enter any calibration mode.
During the sequence, the electronic circuit may optimize the filter and signal gain stage for each of the four independently functioning measurement channels.
After the calibration sequence is complete, the system may begin measuring the X, Y, and Z positions.
Therefore, it is desirable to restart the sensor system 100 and start the calibration sequence after moving the reference element 110 and the receiving pad 120 to a new measurement position (new measurement preparation) in response to switching off.

  Hereinafter, application examples of the high-resolution sensor device 100 will be described.

  The standard operating mode may be performed in a similar manner as described above with reference to FIG.

However, it may be assumed that the 3D linear metrology system 100 is used in static operation in the high resolution measurement mode.
This means that the drum is not working in the washing machine embodiment.

Instead of measuring and delivering 300 samples per second, the system may perform much more precise signal calculations and may measure and deliver a specific channel every second.
In this mode, even very small movements in the mm range can be detected, delivering an analog signal output and a serial digital signal output.

  This measurement mode is specified by measuring a change in weight (load) in the washing machine drum, for example.

The position definition sequence will be described below.
1. The X position (the distance between the receiving coil 120 and the reference coil 110) is identified.
2. First error correction (using a lookup table).
3. Based on the estimated X position, the most accurate ZY position calculation formula is selected.
4). Identify YZ position (eg, by triangulation method).
5. Second error correction for the X position to what extent the reference coil 110 is centered.
6). Identify rpm (drum rotation per hour).
7). When rpm is low and error correction is continued for the ZY position (using a reference table), that is, when the value is below the threshold.

  Next, signal bandwidth and combination accuracy will be described.

At high rpm (number of revolutions), i.e. above the threshold, the washing machine drum mainly performs only small movements.
At low rpm (number of revolutions), the washing machine drum may perform a wider range of motion.

The result is as follows.
1. At high rpm, the software needs to focus only in the center of the 3D measurement space, simplifying software calculations (many other computation times not otherwise divertable).
2. At low rpm (when the drum performs a wider range of motion), more computation time may be used for position value correction.

  Hereinafter, the design of the reference coil 110 will be described in more detail.

In order to achieve a linear output signal, if the reference coil 110 is absent further away, the distance between the coils (when summing the values of all four receive coils) should be wider.
At a short distance (between the receiving coil and the reference coil 110), the distance between the receiving coils may be smaller.

  FIG. 5 shows a diagram 500 illustrating the correlation between measured values and ZY different positions.

The results of some of these precautions are as follows:
1. Option 1 is to tilt the “outside” receive coil (meaning that the receive coil is higher towards the center of the receive pad 120).
2. In contrast, the coil design may be modified to achieve a similar effect (option 2).

  6 and 7 show embodiments corresponding to the two options 1 and 2. FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment 600 in which two receive coils 601, 602 are shown in a side view and oriented in parallel.
By tilting (tilting) the periphery along the arrow 603, the tilted configuration 610 is obtained (option 1).

Specific example 620 and specific example 630 are different embodiments.
The specific example 620 shows normal coils 601 and 602 having concentric windings.
However, as shown in example 630, asymmetric receiver coils 611, 612 are shown to improve X-axis measurement linearity.
The windings of the coils 611 and 612 are non-concentric, and the centers of the windings may be arranged along the horizontal alignment in FIG. 6 (option 2).

FIG. 7 shows a receiving pad 120 comprising a substrate 700 and four asymmetrically wound coils 701-704, the center of each external winding being located at a square corner.
The center of each inner winding is located at the corner of a smaller square.
Thus, FIG. 7 is a simplified design for a winding or PCB flat coil design (also an implementation for option 2).

  Still referring to FIG. 7 (instead of a three-dimensional position measurement configuration), only two of the coils (eg, coils 702, 703) are sufficient to measure a two-dimensional position and the coil (eg, coil 702). ) Is sufficient to measure a one-dimensional position.

  Next, the absolute measurement range of the sensor array 100 will be described.

In designing a practical system, even if there is a problem by covering the measuring range of 62 mm × 62 mm × 62 mm as a whole, it can be used.
Further design changes are necessary to achieve this volumetric distance range.
Typical available options to increase 3D distance or improve accuracy are as follows.
1. The physical dimensions of the receiving coils 701 to 704 are adjusted.
2. The physical dimension of the reference coil 110 is adjusted.
3. A physical distance is adjusted between the receiving coils 701 to 704.
4). The induction coefficient (the number of turns of the conducting wire) of the receiving coils 701 to 704 is adjusted.
5. The induction coefficient (the number of turns of the conducting wire) of the reference coil 110 is adjusted.
6). Any ferromagnetic core in the reference coil 110, 701-704 is used or omitted.
7). Adaptive change or adaptation of the drive signal amplitude of the reference coil 110.
8). Adaptive change of the signal frequency of the reference coil 110 (when operated in AC mode).
9. Promote or optimize the number of receive coils 701-704 (one, two, three, four or more) and the shape of each other.
10. Promote or optimize coil layout / design of receive coils 701-703.

  FIG. 8 shows an example 800 of different measurement areas.

A typical motion area of the washing machine drum is indicated by reference numeral 801.
As indicated by reference numeral 802, a higher accuracy measurement region is indicated when the drum does not move.
Furthermore, the position is indicated in the drum at a higher rpm.

  As indicated by reference numeral 803, it may not be important to enhance or optimize the 3D position sensor calculation for the corner region.

  A realistic measurement range with acceptable accuracy that may be employed in the example 900 of FIG. 9 for a software tool implementation is shown at reference numeral 901.

  It may be assumed that the reference coil 110 (attached to the washing machine drum) does not reach the corner region of FIG.

Here, with reference to FIG. 10, the receiving coils 701 to 704 are shown again.
Furthermore, an accuracy measurement region 1000 is shown.
A region 1001 beyond this region can be measured sufficiently accurately.
However, region 1002 allows further measurements with reduced accuracy.

FIG. 11 shows error correction for performing lookup table design.
The two 2D lookup tables that are arrested from reference number 1100 may represent the minimum necessary for sufficient ZY error correction.

Here are the results for an advantageous sensor design.
1. The smaller reference coil may reduce or eliminate the “bounce curve” (not the measurement dead zone).
2. Four receiver coil designs may provide a wider uniformity measurement space than three receiver coil designs.

  12 and 13 show different flat coil configurations.

Since there is a relationship with the number of supplied flat coils, three coils are sufficient as already indicated in the above simulation to be careful.
For example, even if only the measurement value related to the Z axis is obtained, one flat coil may be sufficient.
Two flat coils may suffice if measurements on the Z axis and another axis are required.
When three-dimensional measurement values are required, three flat coils arranged at the corners of a pyramid may be sufficient.
The pyramid-like arrangement of three flat coils is believed to allow perfect three-dimensional measurement.
In order to facilitate the mathematical analysis of the measurement, four flat coils may be arranged, and each of the four flat coils may be arranged at a square corner.
This arrangement with four flat coils arranged at square corners allows a very simple mathematical analysis for each signal output by each flat coil.

  For overall design and placement of the coil and sensor as well as the reference sensor placement, the correlation of sensor and flat coil dimensions should be considered in the sensor design as well as the flat coil.

With respect to the reference sensor 110, it should be noted that the reference sensor 110 coil may be located as far as possible in one dimension.
From this viewpoint, a one-dimensional coil is preferable.
However, this type of coil may be susceptible to coil position anomalies.
For example, this type of one-dimensional coil tilting may result in inaccurate measurement results.
However, it is believed that a one-dimensional coil may allow a very precise reference sensor.

A suitable reference sensor 110 for avoiding or suppressing errors due to tilting of the reference sensor 110 may be a coil having a spherical shape.
This type of coil 110 may be formed by winding a conductor (eg, a conductor around a sphere).
When the coil arrangement like the reference sensor is tilted a few degrees, the smaller part of the coil is tilted to one side and the other substantial part of the coil is tilted to the other side, whereas this kind of misplacement It may be possible to compensate for tilting for automatic correction.
Because of this reference coil sensor, the tilting of the reference coil 110 may be relatively insensitive with respect to the direction and local placement of the reference coil 110.

Conveniently, the sensor arrangement may allow measurement in at most five degrees of freedom in a three-dimensional space.
There may be cases where rotation about the Z-axis can only be identified by differences or slightly reduced accuracy.
However, a slight rotation or pitching motion may be detected.
The Z axis is a normal measurement coil (s).

  According to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a consumer three-axis linear position sensor is provided for reference elements, receiving pads, mixed signal conditioning and signal processing electronics and users that may be supplied in industrial or automotive applications. An input / output interface may be provided.

The transmitter or reference element may emit a sine pulse and may therefore be connected to an oscillator.
The sine pulse may be considered that a frequency of 10 kHz is not occupied by another communication system.
Higher frequencies may also be sought from the perspective of radio frequency transmission quality.

  FIG. 14 shows a further embodiment for a receiver coil 1400 formed as an asymmetrical winding of electrically conductive wires.

  The detector coil 1400 may be used as a sensing coil for the receiving pad 120 and is centered on different windings that are moved from the left side of FIG. 14 to the right side of FIG. It is formed like a distorted spiral with

FIG. 15 shows a further embodiment of a receiving pad 1500 having a detection coil 1501 and a preamplifier 1502 illustrated in the schematic diagram.
Further, coils 1501 (eg, a total of four) may be supplied to the receiving pad 1500 (not shown in FIG. 15).
A wiring connection 1503 (alternatively, it may be wireless) connects the receiving pad 1500 to the electronic circuit block 1504.

  Accordingly, the electronic circuit block 1504 and the receiving pad 1500 may be supplied to a separation plate (such as a PCB).

  FIG. 16 shows an exemplary embodiment for the SCSP electronic circuit 1600.

Connection to the reference coil is indicated by reference numeral 110.
Connections of the receiving pad to the receiving coil are indicated by reference numerals 1601 to 1603.
The microprocessor is indicated by reference numeral 1604, and the presence of multiplexer function 1605, ADC function 1606 may be predicted.

  The above signals of the receiving coils 1601 to 1603 are transmitted to a preprocessing block 1606 which may contain a preamplifier function and a filter function.

  The oscillator signal may be sent to the filter 1608 via the wiring 1607 or may be sent to the amplifier 1609 in the previous stage supplied to the receiving coil 110.

The term “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.
Also, elements described in connection with different embodiments may be combined.
It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

A three-axis position sensor that supplies three analog signal outputs. A three-axis position sensor that supplies three analog signal outputs. It is a figure which shows the specific example 300. FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example 410. FIG. FIG. 500 shows a diagram 500 illustrating the correlation between measured values and ZY different positions. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example 600 in which two receiving coils 601 and 602 are shown in a side view and oriented in parallel. FIG. 6 shows a receiving pad 120 comprising a substrate 700 and four asymmetrically wound coils 701-704. It is a figure which shows the specific example 800 of a different measurement area | region. It is a figure which shows the specific example 900. FIG. It is a figure which shows the receiving coils 701-704. It is a figure which shows the error correction which performs reference table design. It is a figure which shows a different flat type coil structure. It is a figure which shows a different flat type coil structure. FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment for a receiver coil 1400 formed as an asymmetric winding of electrically conductive wires. FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment of a receiving pad 1500 having a detection coil 1501 and a preamplifier 1502. FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment for SCSP electronic circuit 1600.

Claims (30)

A reference element configured as an element generating a magnetic field;
A receiving pad configured to measure a magnetic field generated by the reference element;
A position sensor device comprising: signal conditioning and signal processing electronics configured to measure the position of the reference element based on the magnetic field measured at the receiving pad.   The sensor device of claim 1, comprising a user input / output interface configured to allow a user to operate the sensor device.   3. Sensor device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is configured for consumer products or automotive application devices.   4. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reference element includes a coil that generates a magnetic field. 5.   The sensor device according to claim 4, wherein the coil that generates the magnetic field is a coil wound around a spherical surface.   The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reference element is a permanent magnetic element.   The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reference element includes a region magnetized in a longitudinal direction in a magnetizable object.   The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reference element is a region that is magnetized in a circumferential direction in a magnetizable object. The region magnetized in the circumferential direction is formed by a first electromagnetic flow region oriented in a first direction and oriented in a second direction by a second electromagnetic flow region,
The sensor device according to claim 8, wherein the first direction is opposite to the second direction. In the cross section of the magnetizable object,
A first circular electromagnetic flow rate having the first direction and a first radius;
A second circular electromagnetic flow rate having the second direction and a second radius exists;
The sensor device according to claim 9, wherein the first radius is larger than the second radius. The region magnetized in the circumferential direction is
Applying a first current pulse to a magnetizable object;
Applying the first current pulse;
The flow of the first current is along the longitudinal axis in the object magnetizable in the first direction,
The sensor device according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the first current pulse generates a magnetized region in an object that can be magnetized by the application device of the current pulse. A second current pulse is applied to the magnetizable object;
12. The sensor device according to claim 11, wherein the second current pulse is applied so that the flow of the second current is in a second direction along a longitudinal axis in the magnetizable object. Each of the first current pulse and the second current pulse has a rising edge and a falling edge;
The sensor device according to claim 11, wherein the rising edge is steeper than the falling edge.   The sensor device according to claim 12, wherein the first direction is opposite to the second direction.   The sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the receiving pads are arranged symmetrically individually and include a plurality of magnetic field detection units.   16. The reception pad according to claim 1, wherein the reception pad is composed of at least one of a group consisting of a coil, a Hall effect probe, a giant magnetoresistive magnetic field sensor, and a magnetoresistive magnetic field sensor. The sensor device according to one.   The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reception pad includes a plurality of tiltable coils.   The sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the reception pad includes a plurality of coils having non-concentric windings.   The sensor according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the receiving pad is mainly composed of four coils having a circular cross section and having centers arranged at square corners. apparatus.   The signal conditioning and signal processing electronics connect to at least one component in the group of reference elements and the receiving pad of at least one method in the group of wireless and wired methods; The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein: The signal conditioning and signal processing electronics are operable in a first operating mode, affected by a first volumetric space having a first sensitivity, and operable in a second operating mode;
Sensitivity to the second volumetric space is spaced with respect to the second sensitivity,
21. The first volume measurement space according to claim 1, wherein the first volume measurement space is larger than the second volume measurement space, and the first sensitivity is smaller than the second sensitivity. Sensor device.   The sensor device according to any one of claims 2 to 21, wherein the receiving pad, the signal conditioning and signal processing electronics, and the user input / output interface are housed in a common case.   The sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein the reception pad and the reference element are arranged mainly in parallel with each other. With an out-of-range indicator configured to indicate the computing state;
24. The sensor device according to claim 1, wherein the reference element is installed outside a predetermined measurement interval.   The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring one of a group consisting of a one-dimensional position, a two-dimensional position, and a three-dimensional position of the reference element based on a magnetic field measured at the receiving pad. 25. The sensor device according to any one of 1 to 24. The sensor device is configured as a three-axis linear position sensor device,
26. The signal conditioning and signal processing electronics are configured to measure a three-axis linear position of the reference element based on a magnetic field measured at the receiving pad. The sensor apparatus as described in any one.   A washing machine comprising the sensor device according to any one of claims 1 to 26. Equipped with a rotating drum,
The washing machine according to claim 27, wherein the reference element is attached to the rotating drum.   29. A washing machine according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the sensor device is configured to measure a position representing a weight load in the washing machine. A method for detecting the position of a reference element,
Generating a magnetic field by the reference element;
Measuring the magnetic field generated by the reference element with a receiving pad;
Measuring the position of the reference element with signal conditioning and signal processing electronics based on a magnetic field measured at the receiving pad.

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